1st SOCES airmen receive Bronze Stars for heroic actions Published Dec. 15, 2006 By Dylan Laurie 1st SOW Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Four Bronze Stars were awarded to Airmen from the 1st Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight during a ceremony at the readiness warehouse Dec. 11. Master Sgt. Robert Dryman, Tech. Sgt. Alex Morgan, Staff Sgt. Joseph Deslauriers and Staff Sgt. Samuel McCalister all received Bronze Stars for their actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. "I was doing my job," Sergeant Dryman said. "We are better trained and equipped than any insurgent force, and I used each day to stay one step ahead of the enemy. I think we were very successful in our mission and will continue to do our best to keep the supply routes open and safe in Iraq." "I know that the job our EOD team did resulted in multiple lives saved, from our soldiers to the civilians that are exposed to this threat in their daily lives," Sergeant Morgan said. "It is a complete honor to receive a medal of this magnitude," Sergeant Deslauriers said. "Every day, EOD technicians are doing courageous and brave things in Iraq, and some are making the ultimate sacrifice. "Every time I wear this medal, it will be in honor of the men and women who never made it home to receive theirs." Col. Michael Smietana, 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group commander, was quick to congratulate these "heroes." "It's not often that the support group gets to hand out Bronze Stars," Colonel Smietana said. "You are on the front line, leading the way, sacrificing your life. In the support world, if we get it 95 percent right, that's great, and the times we don't get it right, maybe the impact isn't so great. But for them, you have to be 100 percent right all the time, because if you screw up, the consequences are dire. You save lives every day."